Columbus STI rumours are just claptrap
BLAME GAME Columbus
CHRISTOPHER Columbus did not bring syphilis into Europe, a study has found.
The explorer’s crew has been blamed for carrying the sexually transmitted infection back from the New World for centuries.
But Treponema pallidum, the infection caused by intercourse, was spreading in Europe in the early 1400s, well before the Italian’s epic 1492 voyage.
The finding is based an analysis of human remains from Finland, Estonia and the Netherlands.
Prof Verena Schunemann, of the University of Zurich, used molecular and traditional radiocarbon dating to track the ancient bacterial genomes.
She revealed: “The first known syphilis breakout cannot be solely attributed to Columbus’s voyages.”
Lily in 2013 North Korea film that slams the West for being slaves to consumerism
SUPERMODEL Lily Cole was a poster girl for Kim Jong-un’s North Korea.
The catwalk queen starred in a propaganda video for the dictatorship, which is infamous for nuclear arms and human rights violations.
Lily, 32, is now a passionate global civil rights campaigner and climate change activist.
She says in new book, Who Cares Wins: Reasons For Optimism in Our Changing World: “My sister and I were brought up in London by our mother, who had a very low income.
“Then I began my professional life – aged 14 – as a face of consumerism. The
catwalk catapulted me into opportunity and privilege. I’ve been in adverts, posters and paparazzi shots.
“I have even appeared in a North Korean propaganda film criticizing illusion and deception in the Western world! My face appears, blinking long false eyelashes, with the label ‘ILLUSION’ printed on top.”
It is believed the video, which attacks western media and dubs Westerners “consumer slaves”, was first broadcast in 2013.
Lily also writes that her lifestyle
Kim Jong-un
was a “trap” that made her a slave to work as she worried about her mortgage.
She said: “My financial anxiety wasn’t helped by the fact that I stepped away from modelling quite quickly, became picky about who I would work with, and started volunteering a lot of my time.
“As my bank account shrank, I found myself rich in new ways – in experiences, relationships, and doing work I believed in. Now, I appreciate minimalism.
“I still live a privileged life but over the last few years I’ve given away many things.”